Page 28 of Teach Me Your Ways

Grady returned with the three drinks. I reached for the bottle of beer and took a sip.

“Grady was just telling me about the time he uncovered a Minoan altar on the island of Naxos,” Lina said. “Fascinating stuff.”

“Oh yeah?” I said, turning to him. I looked at him, like really looked. He knew I was undressing him with my eyes.

His mouth twitched again. One of those tiny, private smiles he probably didn’t even realize he gave. I lived for that smile. Lina, oblivious, just tilted her head and leaned in closer.

“And he speaks three languages. I mean, come on. Is that not the sexiest thing you’ve ever heard?”

I looked at her. “Not even top five.”

She blinked, confused, but Grady stifled a cough and took a long drink. His knee stayed pressed against mine.

“I said I can read a little and I use various tools to translate,” Grady said calmly. He glanced her way but then his eyes were right back on me.

And just like that, the power shifted. While Lina had her boobs out and was practically offering to fuck him right there on the bar floor, I had him. Our secret language. The stolen looks that said everything he was thinking. The private jokes. He didn’t even try to hide the way he looked at me when she wasn’t watching. This was the problem with the other woman not knowing she was the other woman. Lina had no idea she was losing a game she didn’t even know she was playing.

For the next twenty minutes, I watched her pull out every trick in the book. She touched his arm when she laughed. She asked him to explain basic archeological terms she should already know as a graduate student. She even pulled the classic “I’m so clumsy” move, pretending to stumble so he’d steady her with his hands.

And through it all, Grady was polite. Helpful. Professional.

But his knee never moved away from mine. At one point, he even reached under the table to put his hand on my leg. The man was turning my insides to liquid heat.

“So what made you choose archeology?” Lina asked me, finally acknowledging I existed.

“I’ve always been drawn to uncovering buried secrets.” I took another sip of beer. “There’s something thrilling about digging up things people thought were hidden.”

Grady’s eyes flashed. He knew I wasn’t talking about artifacts.

“That’s so interesting,” Lina gushed, though her tone suggested it was anything but. “I’m totally in it for the hot guys. I just love a man who gets his hands dirty, don’t you, Cece?”

I met her gaze and smiled. “Oh, absolutely. Especially when he knows how to use them.”

Grady choked. She blinked. I could see her trying to decide if I was actually making some sexual innuendo or if I was actually talking about the work. I saw the moment she decided. Her predatory gaze turned to Grady’s hands and then looked up at him.

“Professor Stone, your hands look pretty strong,” Lina purred, reaching across the table to trace her finger along his knuckles.

The subtlety of a freight train. I rolled my eyes so hard I was surprised they didn’t fall out of my head.

Grady pulled his hand back, but not before I caught the flash of irritation that crossed his face. Good. He was getting tired of her act too.

“Well, precision is important in our field,” he said diplomatically.

Grady looked like he needed divine intervention and possibly a cold shower. It was a thousand degrees inside my body. My panties were damp. I had to rub my thighs together to take the edge off but that was just making things worse. One touch and I was going to pull a “When Harry Met Sally” scene. Being near the man turned me inside out. I couldn’t begin to understand the chemical reaction that happened in my body when I got around him. Or thought about him.

Lina kept jabbering about internships and career goals and how her mom was so close with the dean, while I zoned out and just watched him. His hand rested on the table, fingers twitching slightly like he wanted to reach for something. For me. He kept glancing at me like he was drowning and I was the life raft.

“I’m going to powder my nose.” Lina smiled.

She looked at me as if I was supposed to hop up and join her.

As if.

She pouted and walked away. More like sashayed away.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Peachy,” I replied. “Why? You worried about me?”

“I’m worried about me,” he muttered.

I knew I should leave. My beer was done. I told myself I would have one drink and then leave. But I wasn’t leaving him with her. And I wasn’t quite ready to walk away from him. I wasn’t going to rub up against him like a cat looking for attention like her, but he was going to know exactly what I was thinking. I licked my lips, making sure I took my time while he watched my tongue.

Oh yeah. We were both so fucking hot for each other it hurt.